Us Against The World
by Pregabalin
Summary: Being all alone in a world overrun by the dead and liars, who can you really trust? A red neck with a cross bow and little girl, does Riley have what it takes to trust people again? If that isn't enough to stress her out, she has been bitten by the dead and that was almost 3 months ago. Does she have the cure or is her fate just being prolonged? o o DarylOC
1. My Redneck Prince Charming

**I could never write anything that requires moving or a lot of action so I'm giving it a shot in this one. Please go easy on me o^o**

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Waking up in a jolt she could feel the sweat beads roll down her face. Her breaths were uneven and shallow, "Oh god." She whispered to herself and brushed back her dark brown hair out of her face. Waiting for her sight to focus, she was in a different abandon building every other night. Waking up to a different ceiling every morning was close to tearing her sanity apart. She reached over and grabbed her gun and knives, tucking them carefully into each holsters strapped up and down her waist. She was trying to be as quiet as she could, the song of the dead singing through the hallway of the old house. The groans, grunts, and moans that she had learned to hate with every fiber in her body.

Gripping the hunting knife firmly in her hand she inched to the door peeking through the crack, on the other side of the door were two rotting and decaying assholes shuffling for food. Opening the door she managed to stab the closest one to her in the head and watched as it drop down to its knees truly dead. She turned to see the other one standing perfectly still in front of her before it fell over dead an arrow sticking out of its head. Her eyes followed the direction where it would have been shot from; a man had his next arrow aimed at her. "Thanks I guess?"

"Who else is with ya?" She quickly noticed a bit of a southern accent as he spoke ushering her to put down her knife. She rolled her eyes and wiped the blood on her ripped jeans and placing it in its rightful holster. "Hey, how many are with ya?"

"It's just me." She answered sadly avoiding any eye contact with the strange man. "Can you at least put down the damn crossbow before you shot me in the face? I kinda like living ya know?" She was mocking his accent as she tried to muster any ounce of southern accent she had. He snickered at her fail attempt at a southern accent and lowered the crossbow and ripped out his arrow out of the asshole's head. It could have been ages as they just stood in that little hall staring at each other. "You look really familiar but I just can't put my finger on it."

"You get that feeling too huh?" His eyes looked her up and down, her blue jeans with on the edge of being tight and multiple tears and rip in them, not sure if it was on purpose or accident and a pair of black leather boots ending at her knee caps. A lose white tang top revealing a tattoo on her left collarbone saying _'Carpe Diem - 2008'_ in cursive. She had about six straps on each side of her legs with either a gun or knife tucked into them, long dark brown that had a natural curl to them and these icy blue eyes that could make just about anyone stare at them for the longest time. His eyes landed on the once white gauze wrapped on her left arm and the look of dried blood seeping through. "You've been bit haven't you? How long ago was it?"

She looked down there was no point in lying to a complete stranger. She actually found it easier telling a stranger her life struggles rather than longtime friend. "It was a while ago. . . I was being careless and it got me. It's already healed up but I just keep the wrap on to keep people from looking at it." She slowly unwrapped the bandage to prove her point; it was fully healed it just left an ugly scar about two inches in length on her forearm. "I wasn't lying. . ."

He couldn't take his eyes off her scar, it could have happened months ago, she should have been died but here she was breathing and talking to him. "How are you-"

"I don't know. I asked myself that a long time ago and every time I see it, I'm reminded that not even this fucking stupid curse would take me. Am I pathetic?"

He chuckled slightly and just smirked at her, "Don't ask me that question. Unless ya wanna get yer feelings hurts. Grab yer stuff; I need to take ya back."

"I don't want to."

"I didn't give ya a choice. Now hurry before they swarm up the stairs." Wrapping back her scar, she grabbed her backpack and leather jacket. She didn't have much to carry with her, hell no one did anymore in this world they lived in now. He held his hand out to her to keep her balance while walking over the dead assholes. She could feel his callouses brushing up against her hands, they weren't soft like a lady's hand but they weren't like sandpaper like his either. She stood next to him, he was a couple inches taller than her by a couple it was more like half a foot taller than her. "What's yer name?"

"Riley Mercer."

"Daryl Dixon." He realized he still had her hand in his and swiftly let go turning around from her. "Let's go before they catch on to us." She followed him down the stairs; he was like some grimy and smelly red neck prince. He was wearing either a black ripped up jeans or it was brown, she couldn't tell. Wearing a black jacket that was covered in dirt and had his arrows pointed in every direction like some secret agent. He put his hand up to signal her to stop; he crept along the wall and turned into the living room. She heard the sound of the arrow releasing and decided to poke her head in to see how many he was up against.

His back was turned to her and she heard the wet sound of rotten flesh mashing up together as he pulled out his arrow. She cringed from the sound, it was something she would probably never get used to and she hated that sound. "Let's go" Riley knew he was a man of very little to none words, looks like he lets his skills do the talking. What has she gotten herself into now?

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**_And work calls for me D; See you next time hopefully?_**


	2. Crack, Bows, and Ice cream

**I'm trying to keep everything vague because I wanna stay close to the series so such a neew episode is out tomorrow, I give you a little background. Just a tad bit. **

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'Mama…' I mentally called out to her hoping she would hear me or at least turn to me. Nothing happened she just stared at me in disgust as she flicked the lighter on holding the tin foil over the flame and inhaling the fumes in ecstasy. She was always beautiful before this came into our life. Before all our savings went into my mother's hobby, which she calls chasing the dragon.

Now look at her 35 years old her cheeks were hallowed in and dark bags formed under her eyes. She was nothing but skin and bones, you could almost see the outline of every bone in her body, but she was still beautiful to me because she was my mommy. Her hair lost its pretty gleamed and no was a lifeless brown. Little bloody sores ran up and down her arms a sign of someone who was in withdrawals. She looked like a lifeless doll or something like that.

A knock roared in our little apartment and my mother jerked in her seat almost knocking over her precious life source. "Who is it.." She asked in a weak tone practically scared to hear the answer.

"Talia… Someone is late for a payment." The strike of fear washed over my mother as she paced up and down the room in a panic. "We can do this the hard way or you can open the door." The man demanded on the other side of the door. I knew the routine by now and hide in the tiny closet in by the bathroom as the front door busted opened. "So about the payment"

"I don't have your money right now, Giovonni."

I stood quietly I was 15 years old with a 35 year old mother addicted to crack and heroine. I knew if I stayed quiet they wouldn't find me and I would be safe. I heard a loud smack echo through the room and my mother began sobbing. "I have one way you could pay off your debts." His words with laced with toxic, his footsteps got louder as the floorboard creaked with every step he took. "Isn't that right, Little Riley?" He almost ripped the closet door off by its hinges; he stood in front of me with this smile that made my skin crawl.

I hoped my legs will work with me today, I tried to run but he grabbed my arm and tackled me against the wall. The warm tears just started pouring down my face, I could feel his breath on my neck, "Please.."

"Shhh you're making this a lot harder than it should be." He gripped my wrist to the point I almost screamed. With his free hand he petted my hair like I was some sort of animal or pet. From the corner I saw my mother, standing there and just watching all of this. "Let's go"

I struggled but it only resulted with my cheek aching with pain as he slammed my head into the wall, not too hard to make me bleed but enough to get me to stop struggle. His hand snaked its way under my shirt and over my breast. I was crying in hysteria, "Don't. Don't. Please don't."

"Riley!" My eyes shot opened and Daryl hovered over me his eyes had a gleam of worry. "Are you ok? You've been trashing around like you were possessed and kept repeating don't over and over." He sat back down; I think he was waiting for an explanation or something like that.

"It was just a nightmare and nothing more than that." I sat up and we stared at each other, his hand reached out and rubbed his thumbs by the corner of my eye. I didn't realize I was crying, was I crying the whole time? "Do I look pathetic?" I watched as he retracted his hand, god I was suck a wreck.

"No." Two scrawny arms wrapped themselves behind me, "Sometimes we just need to get it out." I knew it was Beth she was the only one who managed to stay so innocent when the world turned to shit. She was an 18 year old girl that was Daryl when I met him, they were part of the same group before it was attack and everyone lost each other.

"I guess you're right." She sat in between me and Daryl and hugged her knees to her chest. We were in some abandoned bar taking shelter from the rain, let me tell you even with the rain, Georgia was still hot as fuck. Beth handed me a water bottle, it felt good to have clean water go down my throat compared to the dirty creek water I have been drinking from, I would rather not know what made the creek water so dirty. "What's our agenda today?"

"Scavenging, like always." Daryl replied standing up and grabbing his bow off of the table. "You two get ready; we're behind schedule because someone decided to sleep in."

It was directed towards me, I was the last one awake. "Sorry" I mumbled under my breath, what did I get myself into?

Within a few minutes we were out on the road hitting every house making sure we wiped its edible contents cleaned. Daryl didn't like talking too much so it was just me and Beth chatting to ourselves. "How old are you Riley?"

"Ummh like 28. God I'm so old."

"Hey, I ain't that old." Daryl retorted he was about 8 years older than me. So when I say I'm old, he was ancient, according to my theory anyways.

Daryl was experienced and made Beth and I stay together, of course it always came to 'if you try anything I'll put an arrow through your head' bit. We were assigned the kitchen patrol, somehow I found that pretty offensive but I didn't dare say a word.

"What were your hobbies before this happened?"

"Ummh, I used to dance. It was liberating and I could just forget everything that was bad in my life. That and archery, not a crossbow like Daryl but with an actual bow." Beth gave me this weird look and I chuckled as I opened the cupboard, "My best friend was a guy who loved hunting and everything to do with it. He told me one day he'll take me hunting, so he taught me how to use a bow because I was too scared to use anything powerful. What about you?"

"My dad was always protective me, I got the chores like sewing and cooking. He was very traditional man, lived and died by the bible."

"Sounds like an honorable man." I noticed her expression and her tone of voice; she was still recovering from the loss of her father. She was a nice girl; I didn't want to see her upset. "Hey, if we'll find a bow, I'll show you how to use it."

"Really?" Her eyes lit up, she reminded me of me when I was younger and Derek said the same thing to me. God I miss him, he used to piss me off and then make it up to me by bring me loads of food. "What are you thinking about? You went kind of quiet."

"My best friend, Derek, You want to hear about him?"

"Only if you want to"

I smiled and grabbed the cans and brought them to the counter, "Let's see, I met Derek in First grade. He was kind of a loner and everyone kind of stayed away from him. We only started talking because I forgot my lunch one time and he gave me his pudding cup. I went to hell and back with that guy. Every time I was mad at him or upset he would show up on my doorstep holding bags of food. I remember in 10th grade I broke up with this guy I was really fond of and that night Derek came over with ten tubs of ice cream." I paused and moved to the next cupboard, I didn't need Daryl to come in and yell at me for not doing the work I was assigned. "I mean the gallon tub ones and we managed to eat them up before school the next day. It wasn't the best day because we both had diarrhea but it was funny. He was attractive, tall, mysterious, and he liked working out, but he had this aura around him that made people run the other way. Let's just say he is very socially awkward. He was my best friend and the reason why I gained weight during high school." I laughed to myself remembering that stupid look he would gave me when I said something I shouldn't have. Stupid Derek, stupid end of the world zombies, just screw everything, expect Beth I like her.

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**Once again with the work, Thank you for stopping by and reading. Even if you don't like it it means a lot to me :3 Sorry if there are grammar errors I'm in a hurry. ~ Love Senny **


	3. Bathing in Moonlight

**Just a little shorty for you guys today, Thanks for liking the story enough to come back. You guys are awesome.**

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Beth was sleeping and nuzzled in a thin blanket, it was a long day of nonstop walking and scavenging. Riley crawled out of the window and found a place on the roof. Daryl sat down on the other side of the room opposite of Beth, guarding the precious food, just in case Riley decided to steal all their food and run. He had his trusty crossbow next to him just in case.

Riley could hear the shuffling of the dead on the street, it was still a different ceiling every night but at least she had some company this time. It was a little bit cooler than the day time but god was it freaking hot still. Riley thought back to what Beth was telling her, the prison sounded really nice. She would love a place to call home and a little community where everyone knew each other just a little slice of old life. Her thought ended back to her old life, her friends, and her brother. "Hey it's getting cold. You should get to sleep we gotta wake up early."

"In a bit, just gathering my thoughts" She didn't want to leave yet it's been a while since she could look at the full moon in peace and quiet. "It's beautiful tonight. I mean even though the world is pretty fucked at the moment, the sight of the moon reminds me of how innocent and pure things can be."

She could hear Daryl crawl out the window to join her, he stood by the window and watched the moon with her. She was right; the moon was full and illuminated their surroundings with a dim glow. "I heard you talking to Beth earlier about your past. I heard you liked archery. Do you still like it?"

She smiled to herself, "I used to. That was a long time ago; I don't think I could enjoy it like before."

"Did you use to hunt or something?"

"I um… I went my friend once and a while, when I could sneak away from my mother." She turned to see Daryl standing next to the window shifting his eyes to her. She gave him a quizzically look, "Is this 20 questions or something?"

"I was just curious."

"I guess you like hunting."

"Like? I love hunting, it's so liberating being able to kill something."

"That's not completely psychotic or anything, but I know what you mean, being able to just get out all the aggression that has been building up. I love the feeling of being free from everything and just pretend like nothing in this world matters anymore." They understood each other; they both had scars they were hiding or running from and never want to see it again. Riley closed her eyes and sighed loud enough to catch Daryl's attention pretty quick.

"What were you thinking about?" She knew he wasn't interested he was just being concerned, she didn't know much about him but after being with him for two days she could tell he cared for people. He genuinely cared for the safety of others; it was so rare to even find that trait before things went to shit let alone now.

"Just . . ." She didn't want to tell him much; she didn't want to let anyone in anymore. She was tired of losing people left and right, that's why she was alone. Riley didn't want to care for other person, to build a relationship with anybody afraid that one day she'll wake up and have to see them get torn to pieces. "How I ended up here."

"What do you mean?"

"20 questions again I see." She stated in a teasing tone, "I don't remember where I was or what I was doing before the outbreak it's like a complete blur. All I really remember is that I was in a clinic getting an ultrasound and the next thing I know I'm in the middle of a cabin and all the exits are boarded up."

"Were you married?"

"I'm sorry?" Her eyes popped opened and she turned to him, Daryl's expression was like he was saying I didn't stutter or mumble you heard me. His question was a little unexpected, she was expecting him to ask her why she couldn't remember or how she found her way out. They usually ask those kinds of questions, not her marital status.

"You said you were getting an ultrasound, were you married?" He asked in the same tone, he wasn't embarrassed by it either, what did he really have to be embrassed of.

"Ummh no, I was just a whore." Riley stated plain and simple, she knew what she was and she didn't really care what people thought of her, not back then and definitely not now.

"Everyone has their own poison"

"And mine came in the form of Moon shine, Tequila shots, and Jager bombs."

Daryl chuckled to himself at her comment; she was different, nothing sexual but just to talk to. He wasn't interested in things involving love and that girly stuff, Merle would never let him live it down if he did. However he did love sex, really good and meaningless sex. "Really, Moon shine? Isn't that a little strong for someone like you?" What he meant by it was that she was tall and thin; her alcohol tolerance should be bear minimal or close to it. He met plenty of girls with her body structure and just from the smell of alcohol got them drunk.

"Mama, loves her alcohol. I loved getting drunk and just sleeping until the afternoon."

"If we get the chance then I'll get you a drink."

"or five." They exchanged a smiled and chuckled together trying to be as quiet as they could. "I'm going to hit the hay. It was nice talking to you Daryl." He gave a little nod as she passed him to get into their little secured room.

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**Yay I got my first review. :3 I'm glad you liked it so far Dani :3 I know my writing is a little off, sowwies I'll be better now. Hopefully I can keep a good plot going without getting lazy.**


	4. Crushed

**So just a little longer than last time. I'm conflicted don't know if I should stay with the series storyline or break off. ._. Anyways here is chapter 4, I hope you enjoy!**

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Both Daryl and Beth decided it would be better if they spent the day in the forest just in case there were any saviors that were still there wandering through the forest. Riley just tagged along only because she was tired of being alone. "Hey, you okay?" Daryl waited for her to catch up to them; Riley looked up at him and gave him a small smile as she walked passed him.

"_Who's that?" Riley peered over the older man's shoulder staring at a picture of two little boys smiling. The man was almost 10 years older than her, she looked up at him like an older brother or at least someone she could talk to, everyone else in this town seemed to stay away from him but she was always attracted to the lone wolves. _

"_Me and my baby brother" He answered in a bittersweet tone as he handed to picture to her. "I haven't seen him since I joined you guys. I just wonder if he ok."_

"_If he is anything like you, he is a fighter and a survivor. I'm sure he is alive and looking for you." Riley tried handing back the picture but he put up his hand to stop her, "You don't want it?"_

"_I just don't want to see it anymore, I just feel guilty. I was his older brother and I treated him like shit so he could man up, but I really cared about him."_

"_You are his older brother. I'm sure he knows you do." _

"_Keep it, maybe you'll meet him one day and then he can protect you. He is always saving the weak."_

"_I'm not weak!" She punched him in the shoulder as they laughed together. She looked up at the sky that was starting to melt in the horizon. "I should get home before it too dark. Night old man!" _

"RILEY!" She could hear Daryl scream her name; a cool breeze flew by her face and impaled the zombie in front of her. He ran up to her and grabbed her by the shoulders whipping her towards him. "What's up with you? You were walking straight into that walker! You could have been killed!"

"I was-" She stopped mid-sentence and ripped the arrow out of the zombie's head, it was covered in blood and goo. "Sorry, I'll pay more attention next time."

He released her shoulders and took the arrow from her. Looking her straight in the eyes, it was like he was searching for the true reason. "Just be careful and stay behind me."

"Are you ok? You're bleeding." Beth took out a black bandanna and pressed it against her wound. "Looks like the arrow gaze your cheek a bit. Does it hurt?"

"No, I didn't even know. Its fine Beth, a little cut won't kill me." She politely pushed her hand off of her and smiled "Let's go."

Daryl got on his knees and carefully brushed back some leaves. "Someone was here at least 4 hours ago."

Riley looked around, walking back in forth studying the grounds for any imprints, "Daryl there was a horde of zombie following them. There were at least a dozen of them." She crossed her arms over her chest and bit the tip of thumb out of annoyance.

"Let's follow them." Beth started following the tracks, Daryl and Riley followed behind her.

"Are you feeling okay now?" He asked in a hushed tone like he was trying to hide the fact he was being concerned for anyone besides himself.

"I'm fine, I was just thinking of something."

Riley took out her trusty hunting knife as they emerged out of the bushes. Beth covered her mouth and her legs were trembling, there was a group of walkers eating their prey. Blood dripping from their mouths as they filled their belly, Daryl shot three of them down and stabbed the one munching on the large intestines.

Daryl turned back to look at the girls with this look of defeat, Beth broke down and fell to her knees. Riley knelt down and rubbed her back trying to soothe the crying teenager, "Shh, it's ok honey. It's okay." Beth hugged Riley around her waist and kept crying against her chest, something took over her at that moment.

Riley just had this feeling to protect this young woman, this innocent woman. Riley wrapped her arms around Beth and laid her head on top of Beth's head, rocking her back and forth like she was rocking a child to sleep. "It's not fair. It's not fair." Beth kept repeating over and over as she cried, Daryl stood over them just in case something popped out of the forest.

"We have to keep going, Beth. We have to find your friends and your sister. You have to introduce me to your little family. So we can't give up just yet, we got to keep going." Riley tried to sound as optimistic as she could; she wanted to let Beth still hope and dream for something better. "Come on," Beth sniffled and wiped the tears from her eyes as she stood up. Daryl offered his hand to help Riley up and she gratefully took it, "Thanks"

"Yeah" He responded quietly as he just continued walking down the railroad tracks. Riley and Beth walked along side each other, it was too quiet even though the rocks shifted and crunched together under their feet the tension building up was almost too hard to bear. It was like this little dark cloud hung around them raining down on any hope they had left. They marched down the tracks with their head hung down and their spirits crushed. "We should find a place to stay before the sun goes down."

"We have a good 3 hours to get back to town and stay at the house from last night." Riley looked up to determined how much time they actually had left, it was a good 5 hours before anything got dark but that last scene took its toll on everyone there.

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Beth passed out as soon they got back; she went to her little place and just closed everyone out. Daryl moved the dresser to block the door from opening while Riley took off her boots and discarded her jacket, tossing it near her backpack of supplies. She crawled out of the window on to the roof and just hugged her knees towards her chest.

Daryl placed his crossbow on the roof and crawled out to join her on the roof. He sat next to her with the crossbow lying in his lap. "Today was pretty bad wasn't it?"

"Yeah." Riley answered and watched at the walkers just sauntered in the empty road below them. "It's so depressing to see her have that hope taken away from her."

"She is a good kid but she needs to realize what world she lives in now. Her father protected her from this for almost a year before she actually experienced it." Daryl sighed deeply and lying down on the roof staring at the stars poking out of the blue veil. "Her father was a really good man. He knew a lot of stuff and was the voice of reason in every problem we had."

"Beth told me a little about him, he sounded like a good man. He didn't deserve to go like that."

"Yeah, he didn't"

She could tell that he was keeping a lot in; he wasn't the type of man to show his emotions around anyone. Riley didn't want to press him to tell her his past or anything; she just wanted him to cheer up just a little. "Hey, are cross bows heavy? I never held one before."

"I guess, don't drop it or shoot any arrows." He handed her the crossbow with one hand and she almost dropped it from the sheer weight.

"So like this?" She had no idea what she was doing and only received a laugh from Daryl when he looked at her.

"You look ridiculous; hold it like a baby, support this part." Riley had a baffled look on her face like she was just asked some crazy math problem. "Here" He grabbed her wrist and moved it in the correct location and held her other wrist leading it towards the trigger. She could feel his breath against her ear, "So when you aim you keep it align with this part right here."

Her heart could burst through her chest at that moment, she never felt so uncomfortable around any man before. She was always able to be one of the boys; she didn't get embarrassed or acted like a lady. Now this stupid feeling was building in her stomach and moving up in her chest, she stared at him from the corner of her eyes as his face was only a few inches from her face. He had beady little eyes that are usually glaring at her or telling her where to move, his hair was dark brown and getting long enough to cover his eyes. Their eyes locked for a split second and she looked away from him.

"Sorry" He took the crossbow out of her hands and set it next to him. Daryl moved back to his original spot, "Did you ever have a group?"

"Ummh, yeah I did actually. There was this town where this guy was in charged and it was protected walls and barriers and people to guard it 24/7. Even though it was protected I never felt safe, the guy in charged was too" Riley thought to herself to best describe the man but could really think of anything that would fit him. "He reminded me of Hitler. He sweet-talked everyone and got us pumped up but it never felt right. They would always have so many supplies but we kept getting more, and no one knew where they got it from."

"Ok, let's not talk about that then you're starting to sound pretty uncomfortable. What were you before this?"

"I was a professional seducer. I got paid for being a whore." She said it so seriously that he didn't know if she was joking or she was serious. She laid her head against his shoulder expecting him to shrug her off but he just accept it. "Do you think after this is all over that we would be able to continue our lives were it left off?"

"If we make it that far, I think we are too messed up to return to our old lives. Think of it like a badass survivor going back as a doctor or a janitor. We came too far to turn back to that."

"I don't think so; soldiers serving in war came back and continued their lives normally. Daryl, it's always been us against the world. It depends how we deal with it afterwards and how we hold ourselves. What are you going to do once it ends?"

"I dunno, probably just live by myself in the woods and hunt. What about you?"

"Once this ends, I'm going to have a warm shower and clean myself off. Then I'm going to get laid because I really need a good one after all of this."

"At least we know you're a complete prude." They just laughed and watched the stars twinkling in the skies. "We should get some rest." All Daryl got in reply was heavy breathing, "Are you sleeping? Wake up, sleep when we get inside. Riley?" She was way too exhausted to move or use any more energy she had. Daryl sighed once he realized she wasn't going to wake up any time soon. "Goddamnit"

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**So there is my little flirting/cute scene, I have no idea how to evolve their relationship without him breaking character. I hope he is still the Daryl we know. Anyways stay tuned for the next chapter. Thanks for all the love it makes me a happy girl. ~ Love Senny**


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